The Role of Unions. COMM 203 Flex at the Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia

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1 Last updated: May 4, 2017 The Role of Unions COMM 203 Flex at the Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia W:\Learning Services\Courses\COMM 203\Siobhan Flex Work with Brian

2 The Role of Unions Slightly more than two-thirds of all employees in Canada have individual employment contracts with their employer organization. Many may not have an actual written contract, but legally there is at least an implied contract of employment based on the agreement at the time they were hired. For close to one-third of employees in Canada, there employment is covered by a collect agreement negotiated between their union and the employer organization. This module will focus on the nature of unions, their role in employment and the processes of negotiating and administering a collective agreement. A union is an organization that provides representation to their members on a group or collective basis. The purpose of a union is to improve their members terms and conditions of employment and to ensure fair treatment by the employer. The collective agreement specifies the terms and conditions of employment that apply to all employees covered by the agreement. It is a legal contract for a fixed period of time, usually one to 5 years, and supersedes any individual contracts of employment. The collective agreement is negotiated by the union and the employer. The union s bargaining power that is its ability to force the employer to agree to its demands, comes from its legal right to strike. A strike is a collective action by all employees to stop working until certain demands are agreed to by the employer. UBC SAUDER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS PAGE 2

3 Union density, or the unionization rate, is the percentage of employed individuals who are union members. Union density in Canada was 28.8% in 2014, the latest statistics available, and has been declining for the past several decades. However, the rate varies widely by industry. Source: Steen et al HRM 4 th edition (p. 333). The highest unionization rate is in the public sector (including Federal, Provincial and Municipal government employees) at over 72%. Unionization rates are lowest in retail trade, professional services, and entertainment and hospitality industries, all near 10%. Source: Steen et al HRM 4 th edition (p. 333). UBC SAUDER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS PAGE 3

4 Source: Steen et al HRM 4 th edition (p. 334). Unionization rates also vary across the provinces, though not as widely as across industries, from a low of about 23% in Alberta to close to 40% in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. In British Columbia slightly over 30% of employees are unionized. THERE ARE SEVERAL TYPES, OR LEVELS OF UNION ORGANIZATION 1. Local Unions 2. National Unions 3. Labor Federations I will briefly explain each. Locals unions are the foundation of unions and this is where most of the action takes place. A local union is generally certified to represent a group of employees at one employer. An example is CUPE local 116 at UBC. CUPE is the Canadian Union of Public Employees. CUPE 116 is one of 7 local unions at UBC and represents all the plant and maintenance workers, custodial staff and many other diverse occupations at UBC. THREE KEY ACTIVITIES HAPPEN AT THE LOCAL LEVEL. UBC SAUDER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS PAGE 4

5 1. Most contracts negotiations are at the local level. There are some exceptions where multiple locals may negotiate a contract through an employers association. 2. Grievance processing is handled at the local level. I will discuss the grievance process later. 3. Union dues are collected at the local level. Dues are by far the main source of revenue for unions, so all levels of union organization depend on the dues collected by the local unions to be financially viable. A national union is like a parent union, and includes all of the locals affiliated with it. CUPE is a national union with hundreds of locals across the country. The key roles of national unions include: 1. Union organizing which is mostly done by professional organizers of national unions who try to organize new groups of employees into new local unions 2. Establishing policies and coordination of the locals 3. Support services for the locals, such as lawyers, negotiators, and research support 4. Administer strike funds. Strike funds are established from dues and used to support workers by paying a portion of their regular pay while they are on strike and are not being paid by their employer. Some local unions are independent locals and are not affiliated with any national union. Two of the locals at UBC are independent locals: The Association of Administrative and Professional Staff (AAPS) and the Faculty Association are independent and not affiliated with any national union. The third level of organization is labor federations. Federations can be national such as the Canadian Labor Congress, provincial such as the BC Federation of Labor, or municipal, such as the Vancouver District Labor Council. The activities of labor federations include: 1. Coordination of the labor movement across many unions 2. Political action during elections and lobbying for legislation to protect workers and workers rights (social unionism) 3. Research, education and information campaigns to support the labor movement Labor relations refers to the process of managers and union leaders working together to negotiate collective agreements and administer these agreements. They try to accomplish this in a harmonious manner without strikes or other disputes, but sometimes that is just not possible. As with all other aspects of employment relations, labor relations is highly regulated. Each jurisdiction in Canada has labor relations legislation, and this legislation establishes a labor relations board responsible for administration of the legislation. For example, in the private UBC SAUDER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS PAGE 5

6 sector of British Columbia we have the Labor Relations Code and it is administered by the BC Labor Relations Board. THERE ARE TWO GENERAL PRINCIPLES IN THE LABOR RELATIONS LEGISLATION: 1. Extensive regulation of labor relations procedures, but 2. Very little regulation of the outcomes That is, the labor relations legislation establishes procedures by which unions will be formed by groups of employees, known as union certification, how collective agreements are negotiated, the legality of strikes, the process for handling disputes during a collective agreement, and many other procedures. But the outcomes of these procedures, such as the terms of the collective agreements, are mostly left to the managers and union leaders to work out themselves. KEY PROVISIONS OF LABOR RELATIONS LEGISLATION INCLUDE: 1. Protecting the rights of employees to union representation, and the right to bargain collectively through their union 2. Protect the rights of employers to form employers associations 3. Guards against unfair labor practices by unions or employers 4. Administer the union certification process 5. Sets rules for collective bargaining and legal strikes and lockouts 6. Provide mediation, arbitration and other dispute resolution services The purpose of union certification is to provide an orderly process for determining if the majority of employees in a group would like to be represented by a union. Details vary by jurisdiction but the basic process is the same in all jurisdictions. First, a national union, or a group of current employees seeking an independent local union, start an organizing drive. That is, they try to have the required percentage of workers either join the union or sign organizing cards to support the certification of a local union to represent them in collective bargaining. For federal sector, private employers for example, this requires a minimum of 35% of the employees. If between 35 and 50% of employees signup to support the union, then the board will conduct a vote by the employees to determine the wishes of the majority. If more than 50% of the employees signup, then the union may be certified by the board without conducting a certification vote. If it is clear to the board that a majority of the employees want a union certified, then it will be done and the employer will be required by law to negotiate with the union in good faith with the intent of reaching a collective agreement. This all sounds very orderly, peaceful and democratic. Unfortunately, it is often anything but orderly and peaceful. Once management learns there is a union organizing drive underway, UBC SAUDER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS PAGE 6

7 they often respond with a counter campaign to convince workers they should not support the union. Management and supervisors can deliver their views on the union and why they believe the workers will be better off without the union. But in some cases, they go beyond this and commit unfair labor practices. For example, the employer cannot threaten, intimidate or coerce employees, such as threatening job losses or plant closure if the union is successful. In some cases employers have fired employees they believed to be the leaders of the organizing drive. Employers also cannot make promises, such as wage increases or other benefits if the union is defeated in the election. When the employer has committed unfair labor practices, even if the vote was against the union, the labor relations board may certify the union anyway if they believe the vote may have supported the union had the employer not committed unfair labor practices. The law regarding union certification is complex. Union organizers are professional organizers who know this law very well, and the national unions also have staff lawyers to help them with any issues that may come up. Many employers are surprised by union organizing drives, do not understand the process or the law, and are completely unprepared to deal with it effectively and legally. The vast majority of unfair labor practices committed during union organizing drives, are by employers, with far fewer committed by unions or employees. Any employer with a union organizing drive among their employees should seek assistance from lawyers or consultants who specialize in union certification as soon as possible. Once a union is certified it becomes the legal representative for ALL the employees in the bargaining unit. The employer is now required to negotiate with the union in good faith with the intention of reaching a collective agreement. UBC SAUDER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS PAGE 7